Tom wrote:
Hi, this morning I cleaned up a mess in my basement caused by a water leak.
Most of the water was on the floor of the bathroom and surrounding areas,
including under the Whirlpool water heater that was installed 3 - 4 years
ago.
I checked all the water pipes and fittings in the bathroom but they were dry
and apparently not the source of the leak.
After mopping up the water it appears no more water is leaking.

Would a leaking water heater cause this type of leak?

Because of a water leak (single drip every minute or so) in the cold water
pipe supplying the bath tub on the second floor I've been turning off the
water main supplying the house before going to bed and turning it back on in
the morning. This drip\leak is not the source of the water leak in the
basement.

Is there any reason turning on/off the water main, which is located in a
different place then where the water leak occurred, would cause a water
leak?.



I would suspect faulty water heater pressure relief valve. I've had
that problem a couple of times.